With the help of those heavily armored infantry, Zhang Chong’s army smashed its way into enemy territory like a hot knife cutting through butter and soon cornered those bandits on the top of the mountain when the daytime was over.
There was a natural chasm on the mountaintop, which was the last line of defense that those bandits could rely on. Because of densely laid traps around it, even those heavily armored infantry were having trouble advancing further.
Zhang Chong and his men encircled the mountaintop ring upon ring. Then he had a soldier yell at those bandits, demanding their surrender.
“Bah! No way are we going to surrender. I’ll wring Zhang Chong’s head off even if the price is my own life!”
Such was the hatred those surviving bandits bore towards Zhang Chong that they would literally drink his blood and eat him alive if they had the chance. Though in a hopeless dilemma, none of these outlaws was willing to surrender. The two sides of the battle just confronted each other at the mountaintop in an impasse.
“Commander, do we take them by storm right now or do we just besiege them and wait for them to run out of food?”
“Besiege them? I don’t have that much time for this. Go and tell all captains to come here. We’ll formulate an operation plan and then storm the enemy position.”
“But there will be heavy casualties if we do it this way.”
On hearing this, Zhang Chong smiled hideously, “That’s the very result I want. The emperor has just rejected my request. Now is my chance to show him the consequences of it. I’ll have him willingly offer to enlarge my army and encampment.”
Zhang Chong’s expression and words sent chills down the spine of his subordinate, who was afraid to look at Zhang Chong’s eyes again. “Yes, Commander.”
On that night, there were torches all over the Lee Mountain. Even residents in Tanyang could see them distinctly.
Tao Feng and Ling Zhaowen were still on the South Gate Tower, their eyes fixed on the Lee Mountain.
Tao Feng said, “Scouts brought news back saying that many gang-leaders went to the Prefecture Encampment to deliver gifts to Zhang Chong early this morning, that there were also some who didn’t. And all those who didn’t are now on the Lee Mountain.”
Ling Zhaowen was amazed. “All because they didn’t send him gifts? What the hell is Zhong Chong thinking of?”
“The gift he wanted was 10,000 taels of silver.”
Ling Zhaowen gave a gasp of astonishment. “10,000 taels? That’s a huge amount of money. Why did Zhang Chong suddenly demand those bandits to pay him so much money?”
Naturally, Tao Feng didn’t have the answer to this question. Had he known the reason, he wouldn’t have been so perplexed.
Ling Zhaowen thought for a while and then said, “Your Lordship, I’d like to go back home and consult with my father about this matter.”
Tao Feng nodded.
Ling Zhaowen hastily returned home. But instead of going to Ling Xingzhong’s dwelling, he headed for the Green Bamboo Mansion.
“Second Master Ling?” The guard was rather surprised to see him.
“There’s something I’d like to consult the Marshal about. I wonder if this is a convenient time.”
“I’m sorry, Second Master Ling. The Marshal happened to have just left and is not in at the moment. But Childe Ling is here. Would you like to see him?”
Ling Zhaowen was sent into a brief trance by this response. Then he nodded. “All right.”
Ling Zhaowen was led into the room and found that Ling Zhang was sitting behind Yuwen Tong’s desk reading something. Enthralled, Ling Zhang didn’t even notice his arrival.
“Zhang’er.”
Ling Zhang raised his head and saw the visitor. He hurriedly stood up and walked over. “Uncle, why did you come here?”
Ling Zhaowen’s lips twitched with amazement. ‘This brat. He sounds as if he’s the owner of this house. Yet that day he told me he never regarded me as an outsider,’ he thought.
“Where’s the Marshal? Why are you here alone? And why did you mess his stuff on his desk? If by any chance he finds out…”
“Uncle,” Ling Zhang hurriedly interrupted his uncle, pulling a wry face. “Those are just some maps. Yuwen Tong gave me his permission to read them.”
Ling Zhaowen sized up Ling Zhang for a while and asked, “Is that so? Does he really trust you so much as to let you stay in his study where a lot of important documents are stored?” Ling Zhang was speechless with embarrassment.
“Uncle, will you please stop acting like I’m going to do some bad things. Exactly whose uncle are you? Mine or Yuwen Tong’s?”
Ling Zhaowen let out a laugh and took a seat. “Well, I don’t dare to claim to be the Marshal’s uncle.”
Ling Zhang sat down beside him. “Are you here to talk with me or Yuwen Tong?”
“I came here to meet the Marshal, but the guard told me he isn’t in.”
“Well, he’s just left. There seemed to be some urgent business that he had to deal with.”
Ling Zhaowen nodded. Then he looked at Ling Zhang and restrained the words which had sprung to his lips.
“Uncle, if you’ve got something to say, just say it. I’m your nephew. There should be nothing that can keep you from being honest with me.”
Ling Zhaowen leaned forward and lowered his voice, asking, “How’s your relationship with the Marshal going?”
Ling Zhang could hardly forbear to roll his eyes. ‘Yet another question of this kind. Why couldn’t uncle just let this go?’ he thought.
“Same old, same old. Don’t overthink it, uncle.”
Ling Zhaowen significantly uttered “Oh” and then said in a serious tone of voice, “As far as I can tell, he trusts you very much and has never guarded against you. These are quite some strong affections. No matter what your eventual decision will be, as your uncle, I hope you’ll make it discreetly.”
Ling Zhang kept silent for a while and then nodded. “Rest assured, uncle. I know when and to whom I should show my gratitude.”
“That’s very reassuring.” Ling Zhaowen gave a gasp of relief and asked a further question. “You heard that Zhang Chong staged a precipitous fight with those bandits on the Lee Mountain, right?”
Ling Zhang nodded. “I did.”
Seeing that Ling Zhang had a calm countenance on his face, Ling Zhaowen thought, ‘He must know something.’ So he asked, “Do you know the reason?”
On hearing this, Ling Zhang instantly understood what his uncle had come here for. Somewhat amused, he responded, “Didn’t you say that I should make myself worthy of Yuwen Tong’s trust? It was Yuwen Tong who told me all these things. Will it not be an act of betrayal if I disclose them to you?”
Ling Zhaowen clicked his tongue and then said, “Stop juggling with words before your uncle. I have a shrewd idea which questions I can ask and which ones I can’t. Just tell me what you know.”
Ling Zhang smiled. There were indeed some things that he was not supposed to disclose, such as Yuwen Tong having his men steal those bandits’ money, as well as the role of Yuwen Tong in this matter, but the cause of the armed conflict between Zhang Chong and those bandits was not one of them.
“Since the ruffian who killed Uncle Lu is still at large after such a long time, Zhang Chong got anxious and put pressure on those bandits…”
Ling Zhang gave a sketchy account of the reason why Zhang Chong decided to attack those bandits.
“Zhang Chong felt that those bandits humiliated him, while those bandits believed that Zhang Chong’s demand was beyond the pale, over which they came to blows.”
Light suddenly dawned on Ling Zhaowen after he heard the explanation. He was not a fool, so naturally he knew there were definitely some details that he was not supposed to ask, so he raised no further queries but said, “No wonder Zhang Chong launched an attack so decisively. It turned out to have something to do with us.”
They were the ones who helped fake the death of Lu Kui, so they were fully aware of whether that ‘murderer’ really existed or not.
Ling Zhaowen was very glad to see this battle between Zhang Chong and those bandits.
“You’ve been standing on the gate tower all day?” Ling Zhang sized his uncle up, a concerned look on his face.
“I’m fine. You don’t actually think that I was really standing there, do you? There were chairs. Lord Tao is still there. I can’t leave him standing there alone for too long. I have to go back.”
“You should have dinner first.”
“You silly boy. How can I have dinner at home? I’ve already had them prepare two portions of food, and I’ll take them to the gate tower and have dinner with Lord Tao.”
Ling Zhang uttered “Oh”. He understood what his uncle meant.
Ling Zhaowen didn’t stay for long and left the mansion after a short while.
Ling Zhang thought for a while and then returned to his own dwelling. This was the day that he was supposed to take a medicated bath. Though Yuwen Tong was not present to help unblock his meridians with internal energy, he still had to do what he should do.
After going back to his dwelling, medicinal herbs had been soaked in the bathing pool long enough.
Ling Zhang entered the bathroom, took off his clothes and stepped into the bathing pool.
Meanwhile, Yuwen Tong was in the Prefecture Encampment.
“Marshal, all those weapons have been boxed up. They would probably be transferred tonight.”
Yuwen Tong’s eyes swept around the Prefecture Encampment. “Those heavily armored infantry suddenly showed up today. We’d been totally unaware of their existence before that. There must be some other secret locations in this encampment. We must find them tonight.”
“Yes, Marshal.”
“Stake out the weapon workshop. I’ll go and look for them.”
“We can handle this, Marshal.”
“Cut the shit and go.”
The man beside him instantly fell silent.
Yuwen Tong did nothing special. He directly prostrated himself on the spot, pressed his ear against the ground and listened carefully, letting not even the faintest quake escape his ear.
Among miscellaneous sounds, there were some unusual, muffled ones emanating from somewhere.
Yuwen Tong stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes and then looked in the direction of the arsenal in the Prefecture Encampment.
The arsenal was a heavily guarded, restricted area. Even soldiers stationed in the encampment were not allowed to approach without permission. However, under the cover of the night, Yuwen Tong easily entered the arsenal and then lay prostrate again listening to the sounds.
This time, those unusual, muffled sounds were more distinct, mixed with some voices that were barely audible.
‘There is a basement down here. If my guess is right, this basement is the very place used for hiding the heavily armored infantry. But I have to find the entrance and go inside to confirm,’ thought Yuwen Tong.
As luck would have it, Zhang Chong dispatched the heavily armored infantry to the mountain this day. Yuwen Tong soon observed that one of those numerous tents was somewhat different from its likes. Since this was the area where lots of soldiers would be walking around at ordinary times, nobody could tell that the frequency of soldiers walking in and out of this tent was different, except for someone who spent a full day watching and counting.
‘That tent is the entrance to the basement,’ he thought.
Yuwen Tong observed for quite a while, during the process of which he saw quite a few people entering and exiting the tent. Those people were dressed as common soldiers, but the way they raised their feet, their paces as well as the way they landed their feet were slightly dissimilar from those of common soldiers.
All these were habits that heavily armored infantry would inevitably develop.
Yuwen Tong left in the knowledge that there was a secret basement under the arsenal, that there was a ninety-percent chance that it was where the heavily armored infantry were hiding.
After returning to the weapon workshop, Yuwen Tong suddenly paused and raised his head to look into the sky.
“Stay here and keep your eyes peeled. I’m going back to the city.”
“Yes, Marshal.”
Yuwen Tong quickly left the Prefecture Encampment, went straight back to the city and directly landed onto the ground in Ling Zhang’s courtyard.
Xia Feng, who was on guard duty outside, was startled when he caught sight of a man descending from mid-air. When he saw that it was Yuwen Tong, he hurriedly saluted him. “Lord Yuwen.”
“Is Ling Zhang already inside?”
“Yes. Young Master is in there.”
Without pausing, Yuwen Tong strode into the house, walked to the bathroom and pushed the door open.
“Why did you come back so soon?”
Ling Zhang, who was in the bathing pool, had already heard the conversation between Yuwen Tong and Xia Feng. To his knowledge, Yuwen Tong had gone to the Prefecture Guards to investigate into something, which, he supposed, would take Yuwen Tong a whole night. After all, given that Zhang Chong had led a large number of troops out of the encampment, this was a golden opportunity. ‘How come he suddenly came back?’ wondered Ling Zhang.
